Member Article

Hub of Hope Helps More than 16,000 in First Year

Mental health support database fast becoming the UK’s go-to signposting tool

The UK’s first ever comprehensive national mental health database, the Hub of Hope is today celebrating helping more than 16,000 people in its first year and fast becoming the UK’s go to signposting tool for mental health support.

The app – created by mental health charity Chasing the Stigma (CTS) - has been accessed by 16,447 unique users since its launch on 5th July 2017, signposting them to the nearest and most relevant mental health support service from its database of more than 1,200 national and grassroots organisations.

To date, it has received visits from users in 1,016 different cities and towns across 79 countries, with the highest number of visits coming from London, followed by Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. Almost 67% of users accessing the Hub of Hope are female, with 33% of visits coming from men.

The exponential growth of the app and its ease of use has led to its adoption as a signposting tool by phone advisors on Papyrus’ Hopeline, as part of the Zero Suicide Alliance’s acclaimed ‘See Say Signpost’ training and by emergency services across the country.

User and service provider feedback collected over the past 12 months has revealed that the app is frequently being used as a vital stopgap for the thousands of people on the five to six-month NHS waiting list for mental health referrals and traffic from national charities Mind and Samaritans is also significantly increasing.

Chasing the Stigma CEO, Jake Mills, said: “It really has been an incredible first year for the Hub of Hope. I started out with an idea, a vision for the kind of tool that would have helped me before my own suicide attempt almost five years ago.

“To see how successful it has become by its first birthday is absolutely fantastic and I’ve been overwhelmed by the support it has received from mental health support services across the country, small and large alike.

“We are currently in discussions with a number of national organisations that want to embed the Hub of Hope as part of their own website and we are working with the National Suicide Prevention Alliance (NSPA) to better understand and enhance users’ experience of the app and to how it can be a resource for everyone working in this sector.”

“The team at Chasing the Stigma has also just launched a fundraising push to raise money to allow us to fund the work needed to continue growing and improving the app. We recently completed the Delemare 10K Commando Trail and over the next few months we will be undertaking collections at LIMF and also when The Giants come to town.”

The gruelling ten kilometre obstacle course was completed by a team of six, made up of Jake, trustees, friends and supporters of Chasing the Stigma, in just over two hours, raising more than £1,000 for the organisation.

Jake added: “The commando run was hot and muddy, but well worth the effort for the money raised and the slip and slide obstacle at the end!”

Top Six Services Accessed Via the Hub of Hope

1. Samaritans (via the Talk Now button)
2. Anxiety UK
3. Ocean Recovery (Blackpool)
4. Andy’s Man Club
5. CALM
6. Papyrus

The web app is available online, in the App Store and in the Play Store. It is free to download and use and also free for organisations to register.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nikki Girvan .